Phoenix:
A defiant killer who asked for no mercy, shunned a clemency hearing and railed against immigrants in his 1993 sentencing was put to death on Wednesday for kidnapping and killing a Hispanic community college student, officials said.
Thomas Kemp, 63, was pronounced dead at 10:08 a.m. local time at the state prison in Florence, about 60 miles southeast of Phoenix, a state official said.
Kemp, who acted with an accomplice, was sentenced to death in 1993 for snatching Hector Soto Juarez from outside his Tucson apartment, taking him to a mine northwest of the city and forcing him to disrobe. Juarez was shot fatally in the head.
Kemp, who waived a clemency hearing, was the third man put to death in the state this year. He was also the 16th person executed in the United States this year, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Copyright Thompson Reuters 2012